Climbing assisting equipment

ABSTRACT

A climbing assisting equipment includes a rope transmitting device, a suspension device, and a rope adjusting device. The rope transmitting device, which is suspended by the suspension device, has a displacement generated by a loading on the rope member. Once the displacement is not larger than a reference displacement, the rope adjusting device drives the rope transmitting device to retract a rope member, and thus burden of climbers for operating the retracting of the rope can be reduced

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a rope retracting device for a sport climbing, and more particularly to a climbing assisting equipment.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Climbing, which is a prevalent activity suitable for all ages, is helpful for improving body softness, coordination, strength, attention, enterprise, confidence, and equilibratory sense. Sport climbing, as compared with traditional climbing, is safer and more accessible and becomes a mainstream climbing activity as the traditional climbing is dangerous and difficult. In areas or countries such as Europe, USA, and Canada, the artificial climbing wall is widely distributed indoors and outdoors.

When doing sport climbing on artificial climbing wall, a climber is usually fastened with a rope for preventing the climber from falling down, and the climber has to retract the rope with regard to a relative height. For a climber who only wants to enjoy the pleasure of climbing or is a beginner, it is a cumbersome work for the climber to operate the retracting of the rope and spends his/her strength and spirit. Therefore it will thus reduce his/her enthusiasm.

In view of the reason, a rope retracting device is used for replacing manpower to retract the rope. However, since a conventional rope retracting device in a prior art is incapable of automatically determining the timing of retracting the rope, it is needs an operator or the climber to handle the rope retracting device, and it is still not convenient for the climber.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a climbing assisting equipment to automatically adjust the rope's length according to the relative height position of the climber to reduce the burden of climber.

The present invention thus provides A climbing assisting equipment comprising a rope transmitting device including a rope member and a rope reel member connected with the rope member to retract or release the rope member; a suspension device connected between the rope transmitting device and a fixed object, such that the rope transmitting device has a displacement generated by a loading on the rope member; and a rope adjusting device including a driving motor provided to drive the rope reel member and a triggering member provided to move together with the rope transmitting device, wherein when the displacement of the rope transmitting device is not larger than a reference displacement, the triggering member is triggered to actuate the driving motor to drive the rope reel member to retract the rope member.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the rope reel member includes a rotary shaft and a transmitting gear set, the transmitting gear set is moved together the rotary shaft and the driving motor, and the rotary shaft is provided to retract or release the rope member by a rotation.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the rotary shaft has a side wall portion blocking at a lateral side of the rope member.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the transmitting gear set is a reducing gear set for reducing a transmitting speed that is applied from the driving motor to the rope reel member

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the suspension device includes a receiving member connected to the rope transmitting device and a resilience member connected resiliently between the fixed object and the receiving member for being lengthened/shortened according to the loading on the rope member.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the triggering member includes a switch and a contacting part, the switch is provided on the fixed object and is coupled to the driving motor, the contacting part is provided on the rope transmitting device and is provided at a position corresponding to the switch, and when the displacement is not larger than the reference displacement, the contacting part contacts and triggers the switch to actuate the driving motor.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the triggering member includes a first electrode and a second electrode, the first electrode is provided on the fixed object and is coupled to the driving motor, the second electrode is provided on the rope transmitting device and is coupled to the driving motor, the first electrode and the second electrode are provided at a position corresponding to each other, and when the displacement is not larger than the reference displacement, the first electrode and the second electrode are conducted with each other to actuate the driving motor.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the displacement is a height displacement that is varied in a direction along a direction of gravity.

By means of technical means of the present invention, when a climber is climbing up, the climbing assisting equipment can retract the rope automatically to keep the rope a suitable length to prevent the climber from falling down, it makes climbers no need to spend time and strength on adjusting the length of the rope, so that the climbers can fully enjoy the climbing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a climbing assisting equipment of an embodiment according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the climbing assisting equipment of the embodiment according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a climbing assisting equipment of another embodiment according to the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the climbing assisting equipment of another embodiment according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Please refer to FIGS. 1 to 4, FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a climbing assisting equipment of an embodiment according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the climbing assisting equipment of the embodiment according to the present invention, FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a climbing assisting equipment of another embodiment according to the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the climbing assisting equipment of another embodiment according to the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a climbing assisting equipment 100 of an embodiment according to the present invention includes a rope transmitting device 1, a suspension device 2, and a rope adjusting device 3.

The rope transmitting device 1 includes a rope member 11 and a rope reel member 12 connected with the rope member 11 to retract or release the rope member 11. In this embodiment, the rope reel member 12 includes a case body 120, a rotary shaft 121, two side wall portions 122 a and 122 b, and a transmitting gear set 123. The rotary shaft 121 is supported by bearings 121 a and 121 b in the case body 120 for being rotated, the rope member 11 is connected to the rotary shaft 121 to thus be retracted/released to/from the rotary shaft 121 when the rotary shaft 121 is rotated. The side wall portions 122 a and 122 b are provided at both lateral sides of the rope member 11 to prevent rope member 11 from disordering during being retracted/released and to be retained between the side wall portions 122 a and 122 b.

The suspension device 2 is connected between the rope transmitting device 1 and a fixed object F, such that the rope transmitting device 1 has a displacement H generated by a loading on the rope member 11. The displacement H may be a height displacement H along a direction of gravity D. For example, the suspension device 2 of this embodiment includes a receiving member 21 and a resilience member 22. The receiving member 21 is connected to the rope transmitting device 1, the resilience member 22 is connected resiliently between the fixed object F and the receiving member 21 to hold the rope transmitting device 1 and to be lengthened/shortened according to the loading on the rope member 11. With such structure, when a certain loading is provided on the rope member 11, the rope transmitting device 1 is pulled by a tension force generated by the loading to move down along the direction of gravity D. A relation between the displacement H and the tension force can be determined by an elastic coefficient of the resilience member 22.

The rope adjusting device 3 includes a driving motor 31 and a triggering member 33.

The driving motor 31 is connected to the rope reel member 12, and in this embodiment, the driving motor 31 is connected to the rope reel member 12 through the transmitting gear set 123. The driving motor 31 is activated to drive the rotation of the rotary shaft 121 and to retract the rope member 11. Preferably, the transmitting gear set 123 may be a reducing gear set including a small gear 123 a and a large gear 123 b which are engaged with each other. The driving motor 31 drives the rotary shaft 121 through the small gear 123 a and the large gear 123 b in order, so that a rotation speed of the rotary shaft 121 is reduced, but an output torque of the driving motor 31 can be reduced for energy saving. Alternatively, the transmitting gear set 123 may have a different configuration or may be replaced by a transmitting belt or the like for a transmission between the driving motor 31 and the rope reel member 12.

The triggering member 32 is provided to move along with the rope member 1. In this embodiment, the triggering member 32 includes a switch 321 and a contacting part 322, the switch 321 is provided on the fixed object F and is coupled to the driving motor 31. When the switch 321 is turned on, an electrical current is conducted to activate the driving motor 31. On the contrary, when the switch 321 is turned off, the current is cut off to stop the driving motor 31. The contacting part 322 is provided on the rope transmitting device 1 to move along with the rope transmitting device 1 and is provided at a position corresponding to the switch 321. When the displacement H is not larger than a reference displacement, the contacting part 322 contacts and triggers the switch 31 to turn the switch 31 on. On the contrary, when the displacement H is larger than the reference displacement, the contacting part 322 is moved to electrically release from the switch 31 to turn the switch 31 off.

However, the present invention is not limited to this, and therefore the triggering member 32 may be a different configuration. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, in a climbing assisting equipment 100 a of another embodiment according to the present invention, a triggering member 32 a includes a first electrode 323 and a second electrode 324. The first electrode 323 is provided on the fixed object F and is coupled to the driving motor 31, and the second electrode 324 is provided on the rope transmitting device 1 and is coupled to the driving motor 31. The first electrode 323 and the second electrode 324 are provided corresponding to each other. When the displacement H is not larger than the reference displacement, the first electrode 323 and the second electrode 324 are conducted with each other to conduct an electrical current to actuate the driving motor 31. When the displacement H is larger than the reference displacement, the first electrode 323 and the second electrode 324 are separated from each other to cut off the current to stop the driving motor 31.

Moreover, in a addition to the combination of the switch 321 and the contacting part 322 in the triggering member 32 and the combination of the first electrode 323 and the second electrode 324 in the triggering member 32 a, there may use a lever or a linkage in the triggering member in the other embodiments to amplify the displacement H to improve sensitivity of the triggering members 32 and 32 a to provide more accurate operation on the devices.

With above structure, the climbing assisting equipments 100 and 100 a are capable of adjusting the rope member 11 to a suitable length according to a climber's situation. When the climber is climbing up, most of the climber's weight is applied on the wall and a loading to the rope member 11 is relatively low, such that the displacement H generated by the loading on the rope member 11 is not larger than the reference displacement. Accordingly, the triggering member 32 is triggered to activate the driving motor 31, and thus the driving motor 31 drives the rope reel member 12 to retract the rope member 11 continuously.

After that, the rope member 11 between the rope transmitting device 1 and the climber is shortened by retracting of the rope reel member 12, and thus a tension of the rope member 11 is increased to pull down the rope transmitting device 1 with a displacement H. When the displacement H is larger than the reference displacement, the triggering member 32 is released from the triggering condition to stop the driving motor 31, and thus the rope reel member 12 stops retracting the rope member 11 such that the rope member 11 between the rope transmitting device 1 and the climber can be adjusted to a suitable length with a suitable tension for preventing the climber from falling down.

By above motion mechanism, when the climber is climbing up, the climbing assisting equipment can retract the rope automatically to keep the rope a suitable length to prevent the climber from falling down. It makes climbers no need to spend time and strength on adjusting the length of the rope, so that the climbers can fully enjoy the climbing.

The above description should be considered as only the discussion of the preferred embodiments of the present invention. However, a person having ordinary skill in the art may make various modifications to the present invention. Those modifications still fall within the spirit and scope defined by the appended claims 

What is claimed is:
 1. A climbing assisting equipment, comprising: a rope transmitting device including a rope member and a rope reel member connected with the rope member to retract or release the rope member; a suspension device connected between the rope transmitting device and a fixed object, such that the rope transmitting device has a displacement generated by a loading on the rope member; and a rope adjusting device including a driving motor provided to drive the rope reel member and a triggering member provided to move together with the rope transmitting device, wherein when the displacement of the rope transmitting device is not larger than a reference displacement, the triggering member is triggered to actuate the driving motor to drive the rope reel member to retract the rope member.
 2. The climbing assisting equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rope reel member includes a rotary shaft and a transmitting gear set, the transmitting gear set is moved together the rotary shaft and the driving motor, and the rotary shaft is provided to retract or release the rope member by a rotation.
 3. The climbing assisting equipment as claimed in claim 2, wherein the rope reel member has a side wall portion blocking at a lateral side of the rope member.
 4. The climbing assisting equipment as claimed in claim 2, wherein the transmitting gear set is a reducing gear set for reducing a transmitting speed that is applied from the driving motor to the rope reel member.
 5. The climbing assisting equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein the suspension device includes a receiving member connected to the rope transmitting device and a resilience member connected resiliently between the fixed object and the receiving member for being lengthened/shortened according to the loading on the rope member.
 6. The climbing assisting equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein the triggering member includes a switch and a contacting part, the switch is provided on the fixed object and is coupled to the driving motor, the contacting part is provided on the rope transmitting device and is provided at a position corresponding to the switch, and when the displacement is not larger than the reference displacement, the contacting part contacts and triggers the switch to actuate the driving motor.
 7. The climbing assisting equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein the triggering member includes a first electrode and a second electrode, the first electrode is provided on the fixed object and is coupled to the driving motor, the second electrode is provided on the rope transmitting device and is coupled to the driving motor, the first electrode and the second electrode are provided at a position corresponding to each other, and when the displacement is not larger than the reference displacement, the first electrode and the second electrode are conducted with each other to actuate the driving motor.
 8. The climbing assisting equipment as claimed in claim 1; wherein the displacement is a height displacement that is varied in a direction along a direction of gravity. 